Chapter 304

The Great Ming Emperor's investment of 20.07 million taels of silver is divided into two investment methods.

The first is direct capital injection to build factories, such as the Songjiang Xingang Shipyard, the Longjiang Shipyard, the Fujian Xingang Shipyard, the Guangzhou Guangzhou Dianbai Shipyard, the Fujian Tongyuan, the Songjiang Li Zhizao, the Nanya Li Zhizao, etc.; the second is indirect investment, seeking reliable projects, or lending or buying shares to form debt and equity. Unlike direct wholly-owned factory construction, this kind of debt and equity is not a physical asset, but a debt and equity asset in the form of debit currency.

And of these two types of assets, the first, direct factory construction, is not so easy to fake. After all, there are eunuchs, civil officials, and supervisors of the official factories involved. Under the supervision of the three parties, and under the accounts of the six books and one ledger, the difficulty of dirtying the Emperor's money will rise exponentially. The disaster area is the second method, indirect investment.

Because under this method, the feasibility of cheating the Emperor's money is very high.

Under the vast, bloated, and rigid bureaucratic system, the reaction is slow. Usually, people who cheat the money will escape, and in the end, it is impossible to find out where the silver actually went.

This kind of behavior of damaging the public to benefit the private is very common. Isn't that how the local treasuries were emptied? When they react, the imperial court's money has already fallen into personal pockets. If the imperial court wants to investigate, they immediately push out a scapegoat and pin all the accounts on this person. Clearing old accounts like this is a common occurrence.

That is why Grand Secretary Lu Lu Diaoyang submitted a memorial to state methods of prevention, reducing losses from the source.

Lu Lu Diaoyang's memorial starts by discussing the nature of this money. It must always be noted that these 20.07 million taels of silver are the Great Ming Emperor's own private money and the money of the Jin Party's various powerful and wealthy families. It is not public money, but the Emperor's personal money. This is a point that must be clearly stated. Once someone cheats the Emperor's money, it is not damaging the public to benefit the private, but stealing from the Emperor.

Under this nature, the Emperor will initiate "extraordinary justice" to deal with it. The scope of "extraordinary justice" applies to heinous crimes, the lightest of which is a death sentence. If it is more serious, the Emperor will implement collective punishment, and no one can plead for mercy. This is unbearable; you have stolen from the Emperor, and you dare to do such a thing. That is already more than just bold—is there anything you wouldn't dare to do?

The context of the entire memorial is extremely clear, starting from the source to increase the cost of crime, and then supervision. On this point, whether it is direct investment or indirect investment, the Inner Treasury's own supervision will inevitably have loopholes. This large-scale investment is indeed the Emperor's personal act, but it involves the major national affair of opening the seas, so it must not be sloppy.

Supervision should be carried out by local surveillance commissioners, imperial court touring censors, and Inner Treasury eunuchs. Three-party checks and balances are needed; two-party checks cannot form a chain of suspicion, but three parties can.

When auditing accounts after the fact, it should also be done by the Ministry of Revenue's state treasury, the Directorate of Ceremonial, Inner Treasury eunuchs, and mathematics doctors of the Academy of Universal Learning together to check for omissions and prevent the Emperor from being deceived.

The imperial court also has a huge investment in opening the seas, mainly focusing on dredging waterways, increasing river defense inspections, clearing river and sea pirates, inspecting privately set up checkpoints in various places, and increasing commodity circulation. The imperial court's benefit is tax revenue.

The Great Ming's land tax has long been a deep-seated problem, and the local retention and imperial court's fifty-fifty split has been implemented for two hundred years. However, regarding commercial tax, the imperial court's local retention ratio was tentatively set at twenty percent.

The purpose of the memorial is to allow these 20.07 million taels of silver to land smoothly, to allow silver to flow to where it is needed in an orderly manner, to assist the Great Ming in opening the seas, and to solve the problem of how to spend the money, rather than forming a carnival for the powerful and a feast of division.

Confusing the Emperor's personal investment with the imperial court's investment—isn't this a typical failure to distinguish between public and private? As Grand Secretary, how could Lu Lu Diaoyang make such a mistake?

A king has no private affairs. The Emperor's marriage, having children, and favoring a woman are all state affairs. As a monarch, while enjoying supreme power, there are no private affairs. This is not Lu Lu Diaoyang failing to distinguish between public and private, but the Emperor himself being an existence that cannot separate public and private attributes.

Everyone in the world acts for themselves; only the Son of Heaven acts for the public.

"No, the content of this indirect investment... is it not open to question?!" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand. He had no objections to the other contents, including the Ministry of Revenue's auditing, the three-party checks of the surveillance commissioner, touring censor, and inner officials, and the joint auditing by the Ministry of Revenue, Inner Treasury, and Academy of Universal Learning. These were all expected. During the Yongle reign, Minister of Revenue Zi Xia Zi Xia Yuanji was highly involved in the voyages to the Western Oceans.

Zhu Zhu Yijun only had doubts about this investment content.

"Is there a problem?" Wang Wang Guoguang asked suspiciously.

"The trading house for fine wool is fine. After all, I have already done it in the Northern Office, and it is understandable to set up trading houses in Yingtian Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, and Hangzhou Prefecture. However, what is this about investing in pleasure boat businesses?" Zhu Zhu Yijun held the memorial and said with mixed feelings.

The Emperor's money being used for the flesh trade—no matter how shameless Zhu Zhu Yijun was, he felt he couldn't save face.

Are you kidding me!

Wang Wang Guoguang said very calmly: "The pleasure boats are all foreign women now. Your Majesty is investing, not providing relief; it is for a return."

Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hands repeatedly and said: "No, no, no. Who can guarantee that there will always be foreign women on the pleasure boats? If the large sailing ships do not arrive at the port next year and the Great Ming's silk cannot be sold, it will inevitably affect the treatment of the weavers in the Li Zhizao. By then, there will definitely be Great Ming's daughters on the pleasure boats."

"I am the Son of Heaven. When the ruler acts, the billions of people look up to him as a model and follow him. If the ruler acts, the subjects follow. If I allow it now, there will be brothels everywhere in the Great Ming in the future. This is absolutely unacceptable."

"Cross this item out. I can earn a little less, but I cannot do such things."

"Does the Second Grand Secretary want to do it? If the Second Grand Secretary wants to do it, I can return the 10.07 million taels of silver to the Second Grand Secretary."

Wang Wang Chonggu was startled and hurriedly bowed his head, saying: "Your Majesty, your subject absolutely does not dare. Please spare your subject's life. We will not do this business, absolutely not!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun's behavior was due to his simple values, while Wang Wang Chonggu's behavior was for his own head. If His Majesty says no, then it cannot be done!

"It is all indirect holding of debt, not even equity. Pleasure boats are not cheap after all, and there are not many that can be acquired." Wang Wang Guoguang was still a bit persistent. The reason was simple: as the Minister of Revenue, gathering wealth for the imperial court was his duty. If the imperial court does not borrow money and does not collect this interest, there are plenty of people who will collect this interest, and plenty of people who will do this business.

This thing has existed since ancient times.

Wang Wang Chonggu immediately said: "Allocate this money to cotton spinning and sugar refining. Minister, silver is just silver; it is not dirty or otherwise. But the source of this silver is different, so it is better not to do it. I feel that cotton spinning and sugar refining will earn much more than this pleasure boat business."

"Really?" Wang Wang Guoguang asked with a deep frown.

"I come from a merchant background. When it comes to doing business, I am more experienced than the Minister," Wang Wang Chonggu said very confidently.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Wang Chonggu. This guy indeed had a talent for doing business. He had already seen the new trend: cotton spinning and sugar refining. Both were hard currencies among hard currencies. The pleasure boat business didn't earn much and invited criticism, so it was truly not worth doing.

"Then cross it out. Your subject has no objections. Actually, your subject is also not happy about it." Seeing Wang Wang Chonggu's solemn guarantee, Wang Wang Guoguang chose to compromise. The pleasure boat business, not doing it is fine. Setting aside the identity of the Minister, as a Great Ming Ming Jinshi and a public official, Wang Wang Guoguang actually looked down on the powerful and wealthy families who engaged in the flesh trade, but this investment was profit-driven.

In the Great Ming's main public opinion, even merchants who abandoned Confucianism for commerce were looked down upon by the literati.

Lu Lu Diaoyang's memorial was finally approved by the Emperor with vermilion ink, forming a substantive guiding document. It can be summarized as waste, corruption, theft, transfer, misappropriation, etc. If you dare to steal, you dare to kill.

Lu Lu Diaoyang took out the second memorial and looked at His Majesty on the platform. Lu Lu Diaoyang didn't even know how to talk about the content of this memorial.

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "Grand Secretary, speak."

"The Shanxi volunteer soldiers fled their posts and defected to the Bansheng. Altan Khan sent them back to the Great Ming pass. Datong Regional Commander Dong Yiyuan submitted a memorial asking how to deal with them," Lu Lu Diaoyang sighed and said.

Fleeing posts, and it was a post the Great Ming didn't know about, and Altan Khan sent the people back, so the Great Ming imperial court only then found out. Datong Regional Commander Dong Yiyuan submitted a memorial to plead guilty and asked how to punish them. There were fifty-two volunteer soldiers in total.

"The Great Ming has been paying salaries for three years now. Why do these volunteer soldiers still flee their posts?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Vice Minister of War Zeng Shengu. It looked like a question, but it was actually asking Zeng Shengu to explain the whole story clearly.

"The Shanxi volunteer soldiers are weak and incompetent. Each town deducts their wages to provide for military supplies, and this has been going on for a long time. Volunteer soldiers? They are just displaced farmers," Zeng Shengu explained the cause of the matter with sweat on his forehead.

Volunteer soldiers are corvée laborers, all strong men pulled to the border to do miscellaneous work. They are not even considered border troops. They are hired laborers. They were supposed to be given food, but the border troops didn't have enough to eat, so the volunteer soldiers had even less. If they couldn't survive, they had to find a way. Fleeing to the outside of the Great Wall was an extremely common phenomenon.

Volunteer soldiers flee their posts because they are not on the roster, so no one cares about them. In the past, Altan Khan would just take them in. This time, for various purposes, Altan Khan sent these fifty-two volunteer soldiers back to the Great Ming.

Altan Khan's first purpose was naturally to fulfill the treaty just signed, sending them back privately across the wall. The second purpose was naturally to disgust the proud and complacent Great Ming Emperor. The Great Ming is working hard to revitalize itself, so if the Great Ming is so good, why did these volunteer soldiers flee to him? The third purpose was to hope to alleviate the internal contradictions of the various Right Wing tribes. Altan Khan released a positive signal of willingness to be on good terms with the Great Ming to appease the emotions of the peace faction within.

Overall, Altan Khan's move did indeed make the Great Ming lose a bit of face. How should these returned volunteer soldiers be dealt with?

"If they are sent back to their native places along the official roads and post stations, can these people really survive? The spit of the people could drown these fifty-two people. And how would the other Shanxi volunteer soldiers view this? In my opinion, send these volunteer soldiers to Taotu Mountain to manage the reclamation of prisoners of war," Zhu Zhu Yijun made a decision. He had actually thought of a way to deal with it long ago: atonement through meritorious service.

The volunteer soldiers ran because they were about to starve to death. The Ministry of War admitted this point; there was indeed a problem. And the Great Ming Emperor issuing an order to behead the volunteer soldiers who fled their posts was a bit of a joke for Altan Khan to watch. The saying "the people are the foundation of the state" is just talk. If the Emperor loses face, he kills people without asking the reason.

Sending them back to their native places is also forcing these volunteer soldiers to die.

Going to Taotu Mountain to manage a prisoner-of-war camp is a good compromise. It is indeed exile to the border, and it is indeed a punishment, but it is also a protection.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the officials and thought for a long time before saying: "Clearing up old evils—how easy is that?"

"The volunteer soldiers are weak and incompetent. Each town deducts their wages to provide for military supplies. At that time, the imperial court was in arrears with salaries, and the military towns lacked equipment, so each town deducting wages to provide for military supplies was understandable. Today, the imperial court no longer owes salaries, but it has become a deep-seated problem, which is very difficult to correct."

"The New Policy is like this; problems can always jump out from the corners. So we must find ways to solve problems. The New Policy cannot be afraid of problems. The most terrible thing is not having the courage to face these problems, or even just muddling along. Then the New Policy will inevitably be a tree without roots and water without a source."

"When the Master gave lectures in the third year of Emperor Wanli, he talked about the transition from Jiaozi to Dong Huizi in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. When the paper currency system could not be consistently implemented, he said to me: 'When the state loses its great trust, people become suspicious. How can we blame them for being afraid and not daring to store them?'"

"I deeply agree. Looking at what the Master said today, it is always fresh, and I have gained new insights. Yes, the state has lost its great trust and righteousness. When people are suspicious of the imperial court's decrees, how can we blame the common people for being afraid and avoiding them, and not daring to store those Jiaozi and Dong Huizi that are too thin even for wiping their backsides? How can we blame the common people for not being willing to fight for the state?"

"If the Shanxi volunteer soldiers really had any other way, even if they had a little trust in the imperial court, why would they run to the outside of the Great Wall to be the lackeys and dogs of the Northern Barbarians?"

"General Yu, I do not know military affairs. Will privately pardoning these volunteer soldiers have a negative impact on military law and discipline?"

When Zhu Zhu Yijun saw Dong Yiyuan's memorial, the person who first appeared in his mind was Chen Zhu, Chen Chen Dazhuang, who had already gone to Nagasaki. Under those circumstances, Chen Chen Dazhuang was still willing to trust Zhu Zhu Yijun, the Emperor, once. The state lost its great trust, and people became suspicious. How conflicted must Chen Chen Dazhuang have been?

Fortunately, Zhu Zhu Yijun really fed Kong Kong Shangxian's son, Kong Kong Yinlin, to the dogs and did not live up to Chen Chen Dazhuang's expectations. As for these Shanxi volunteer soldiers, they probably no longer had any expectations for the imperial court. This is a signal of the fall of the state. Zhu Zhu Yijun must deal with it properly.

Yu Yu Dayou stepped out and bowed his head, saying: "Your Majesty has a heart of benevolence. It will not affect military discipline and law; on the contrary, the soldiers will inevitably be inspired."

"But they have already defected. I am privately pardoning them like this. 'Benevolence does not command an army.' Does my action really not affect the soldiers' morale and military law?" Zhu Zhu Yijun still asked with some uncertainty.

"It will not," Yu Yu Dayou bowed his head and said. "Volunteer soldiers are not soldiers of the military towns; they are just displaced farmers who have nowhere to go. They are all people who have fallen on hard times, so they naturally empathize. As for 'benevolence does not command an army,' that mostly applies to marching and fighting."

"I see." Zhu Zhu Yijun understood Yu Yu Dayou's logic. Although volunteer soldiers have the name of soldiers, they are similar to the Xiangjun who settled displaced people in the Song Dynasty. And the Great Ming has been emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts for a long time. The situation of the Great Ming soldiers and these volunteer soldiers is about the same. The soldiers snatch the volunteer soldiers' food because their own food was snatched, and they can only harm each other at the bottom, sympathizing with each other in their misery.

"Don't talk about volunteer soldiers. Even for me, if I stay in the dark for too long, I am always afraid that after the sun sets, it won't rise again," Zhu Zhu Yijun said with great emotion.

For the Emperor, it is like this; for the common people of the Great Ming, isn't it the same?

Living in total darkness, how can one look at the horizon full of hope, expecting that ray of light that illuminates the world?

To say the Great Ming Emperor is violent—these volunteer soldiers received the Emperor's private pardon. His Majesty said very clearly that he used "extraordinary justice" to pardon these volunteer soldiers. To say the Great Ming Emperor is benevolent—the Kong family of Yanzhou is in the heavenly prison, terrified all day long.

Whether the Emperor is benevolent or not depends on the person. The world has been trapped by annexation for a long time.

"From now on, each town will no longer deduct the volunteer soldiers' rations," Zeng Shengu said very definitely.

The court discussion continued. Lu Lu Diaoyang led the six ministries to start discussing the recent affairs of the state one by one. State affairs were proceeding in an orderly manner.

After the court discussion, Prince Lu, Zhu Zhu Yiliu, began his daily lectures. Zhu Zhu Yijun taught personally, and Zhu Zhu Yiliu really didn't dare to doze off and studied very seriously.

"Brother, why is it that in the romances, it is always said, 'Who is the general, report your name!'" Zhu Zhu Yiliu raised a very strange question. He said with a slightly confused look: "In the military, Great Ming generals rarely have such duels."

"Uh... does Eunuch Feng know?" Zhu Zhu Yijun was stunned and also felt strange, asking Feng Bao.

Feng Bao was stunned for a moment and looked at Zhang Hong. Zhang Hong also shook his head blankly. This question from Prince Lu was truly a bit strange.

Soon, Zhang Hong sent a small eunuch to the Cabinet to ask. The several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, Lu Lu Diaoyang, Wang Wang Chonggu, Wang Wang Guoguang, and Ma Ma Ziqiang, all looked at each other. They didn't know the answer to this question either, so they soon went to ask the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites.

It wasn't until after the Emperor had finished his lunch that the small eunuch reported the reason.

Zhang Hong bowed his head and said: "Prince Lu, the reason is that in the army, rewards are recorded, and the heads of generals must be asked for their names. If someone beheads the opponent's general, they must register the name. If they don't know, they won't record the merit. As time goes by, in the battle formation, whoever the general is, they must ask for the name, and thus these words came about."

Zhang Hong perfectly solved Prince Lu's problem. Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Hong and asked with a deep frown: "I feel something is wrong. Zhang Hong, go to the Ministry of War again and ask if it is true that in our Great Ming, every head merit is recorded like this?"

Zhu Zhu Yijun always felt something was strange, but he couldn't say what was strange. He let Zhang Hong go and ask, and he would know.

Soon, Zhu Zhu Yijun got the answer. Since the second year of the During Zhengtong reign, every head merit must record the name of the thief. At the beginning, they just made up a name, mainly for generals. But later, by the reign of Emperor Xiaozong, they had to have evidence like the opponent's identity token. This explains a very interesting question: why, after the reign of Emperor Xiaozong, the number of people beheaded in a Great Ming battle was no more than a hundred or so.

How many of the Northern Barbarians, Japanese pirates, and Eastern Barbarians have things that can prove their identity?

And the reason for doing this, where every head must have an identity token, is also very simple: to prevent killing innocent people to claim merit.

Who is right and who is wrong? There is no right or wrong; it is that the system design of head merit has huge flaws.

"Emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts." Zhu Zhu Yijun mounted his horse and prepared to go to the Northern Camp to inspect the military horses. He finally knew why, when Hou Hou Yuzhao proposed "meritorious service," the regional commanders and assistant regional commanders of the Nine Towns all agreed, eventually forming the Five-Grade Meritorious Service Medal.

Fighting? Even if you win, you can't get a reward!

While the Great Ming Emperor was heading to the Northern Camp, Wang Wang Chonggu left the Ministry of Justice. He went out of the Xizhimen gate. This time, he didn't go to the wool factory by the Yongding River, but to the Yicheng Earl's Mansion in the Western Hills. He wanted to find Zhang Zhang Juzheng to discuss something.

"Father, are we really going to the Yicheng Earl's Mansion?" Wang Qian said with lingering fear.

"Go! I have serious business to find him. What are you afraid of? What is there to be afraid of? I have state affairs to find Zhang Zhang Juzheng, I'm not afraid!" Wang Wang Chonggu's voice was very loud, so loud that the coachman outside the carriage heard it.

Wang Qian curled his lips and whispered: "If you are really not afraid, why are you shouting so loudly?"

Wang Wang Chonggu was immediately furious. He slapped Wang Qian on the forehead and said angrily: "I, I, I, I am old, my voice is small, I can't hear, so I speak loudly!"

"Aren't we entering the tiger's den? We avoid them on weekdays, why go to the Yicheng Earl's Mansion in the Western Hills? To add a dish for Zhang Zhang Juzheng?" Wang Qian said extremely helplessly. He knew himself very well—he was a petty person. People like Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui, it was better not to see them if possible. If the conspiracy didn't work, he would lose his biggest reliance and be very passive.

"Talking nonsense, I have serious business finding Zhang Zhang Juzheng, serious business!" Wang Wang Chonggu was furious.

Wang Qian pointed behind him and said: "Then why prepare two carriages of gifts?"

"I have them, I give them to whoever I want. Sigh, actually, I'm afraid Zhang Zhang Juzheng won't open the door for us." Wang Wang Chonggu was still stubborn at first, but after saying a few words, he said with insufficient confidence. Zhang Zhang Juzheng had no reason to open the door for him, no reason to see him. The chance of being shut out was extremely high. Bringing so many gifts was just a brick to knock on the door.

"Does Master Taiyue still accept gifts now?" Wang Qian said helplessly.

Wang Wang Chonggu spread his hands and said extremely helplessly: "He stopped accepting them long ago. But there are some things I have to ask him, otherwise I can't make up my mind."

Wang Wang Chonggu arrived at the Yicheng Earl's Mansion in the Western Earth City. The doorman of the Yicheng Earl's Mansion received the visiting card. You Qi immediately went to the Zhao Wenchang Pavilion to report to Zhang Zhang Juzheng, and then ran to the door in one breath, saying with a full face of smiles: "Second Grand Secretary Wang, please wait a moment. My master has guests now, but he will be here soon. As for the gifts, the master said it is not necessary. Second Grand Secretary Wang, please take them back. What His Majesty gave is enough."

"No rush, no rush." Seeing You Qi, Wang Wang Chonggu finally let go of the big stone in his heart. Zhang Zhang Juzheng was willing to see him, and even came out to greet him personally, and didn't even need to send gifts. At least it wasn't entering the tiger's den.

"An honored guest at the door, I failed to welcome you in time." Zhang Zhang Juzheng appeared in front of the door with several people. Gao Gong and Wang Wang Zhihao happened to be at the mansion. Gao Gong and Zhang Zhang Juzheng had a very good personal friendship, and Wang Wang Zhihao and Zhang Zhang Juzheng were in-laws.

"Not at all, Earl Yicheng is too polite." Wang Wang Chonggu hurriedly paid his respects. Zhang Zhang Juzheng was indeed now free from official duties and only had a super-grade earldom. But when it came to the status of a Cabinet Minister, they were all the Son of Heaven's staff. This power depended entirely on how close they were to His Majesty. His Majesty went to the Yicheng Earl's Mansion in the Western Hills on the 23rd of every month. Who else in the world had such treatment?

Anyone who dared to say that Zhang Zhang Juzheng had completely lost his power was just stupid.

Wang Wang Chonggu arrived at the Zhao Wenchang Pavilion. After the pleasantries, Wang Wang Chonggu explained his purpose. He thought for a long time before saying: "I have a memorial. I don't know if it should be submitted. I ask Earl Yicheng to take a look."

"Memorial on Restoring the Supervisory Officials of the Song Dynasty."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng opened it and looked at it for a long time, then handed the memorial to Gao Gong and Wang Wang Zhihao.

"Supervisory officials"—the literal meaning is officials who supervise and manage businesses. Businesses are commercial firms that do business. The supervision of businesses in the Song Dynasty was mainly divided into four categories.

The first category is production institutions for official agriculture, mulberry, animal husbandry, and handicrafts, such as official manors, field service offices, camp field offices, horse farms, the Bureau of Literature, the Directorate of Works, mining and smelting sites, etc.

The second category is official money and paper currency businesses, such as the Office of Trade, market exchange offices, pawnshops, Jiaozi offices, Dong Huizi offices, Qian Yin offices, paper-making offices, coin-casting directorates, etc.

The third category is official commercial firms, such as official salt fields, rice shops, wine offices, tea farms, alum workshops, market exchange offices, stacking yards, coal yards, etc.

The fourth category is construction, such as various timber yards, shipyards, transfer granaries, etc.

The heads of these four categories of institutions were all called "supervisory officials." Unlike the Great Ming, which was so poor that it owed salaries and stipends, and the Inner Treasury and State Treasury were begging from each other, the Song Dynasty's grassroots organization for financial affairs was very perfect, which ensured the stability of the imperial court's income. It wasn't until the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, during the time of Jia Jia Sidao, that the Song Dynasty's financial pressure began to grow.

After the outbreak of Su Shi's Crow Terrace Poetry Case, Su Zhe was implicated and demoted to Junzhou to serve as a supervisory official for salt and wine taxes. Su Zhe was a very talented person. In Junzhou, he quickly became familiar with the business, and then, in addition to salt and wine, any financial issues such as coin casting and trade goods were all under Su Zhe's management.

When Su Shi passed through Junzhou, he wanted to see Su Zhe. Because Su Zhe was too busy, Su Shi wrote a poem to mock Su Zhe: "I didn't know you were an official, trapped by the smell of wine and yeast."

I knew you were an official, but I didn't know you were selling fish in the market.

Does the thousand-year cypress king have spirituality? If Confucius knew about himself, he would probably jump out of his coffin and beat these unfilial descendants to death. You must know that Confucius's attitude toward ghosts, gods, and monsters was only one: "The Master did not talk about strange phenomena, force, chaos, and gods." That is, he didn't discuss them. But in front of his temple, there was a cypress king. Whether the Master was angry or not, I don't know, but the Confucian scholars were very angry.

Su Zhe had served as such a supervisory official.

Wang Wang Chonggu meant that the Great Ming should also copy this set and use it.

"It's simply nonsense!" Gao Gong finished reading the memorial and sternly criticized Wang Wang Chonggu. Wang Wang Chonggu and Gao Gong could be said to be of the same spirit. When Gao Gong was the Grand Secretary, he had protected the Jin Party quite a bit. This was also the biggest stain on Gao Gong's administration.

After Gao Gong finished reading Wang Wang Chonggu's memorial, he was furious.

Wang Wang Chonggu said solemnly: "Master Master Xinzheng, please calm down. There is no need to be so quick to draw a conclusion."

"Hey! At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, a catty of coal sold for two hundred wen. You have already made the wool factory and the Western Hills Coal Bureau official, and this is making money until you are full, and you want to make another hand? Wang Wang Chonggu, don't be too greedy. Aren't you afraid of bursting yourself?" Gao Gong was still very dissatisfied.

When Wang Qian heard this, he was unhappy. Gao Gong and Wang Wang Chonggu had old ties, but Wang Qian didn't. He argued loudly: "Master Master Xinzheng! Speak with a conscience. Our family did take money for the wool factory, but that was a reward from His Majesty! Our family didn't take a single cent from the Western Hills Coal Bureau. Don't smear people's innocence for no reason!"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Wang Wang Zhihao acted as a peacemaker, but he couldn't stop them at all. Gao Gong and Wang Qian were still arguing.

After all, there was only one peacemaker like Wan Wan Shihe who could speak on all sides. The two were arguing endlessly, and Wang Wang Chonggu didn't reprimand his son, letting his son argue with Gao Gong.

You can eat food indiscriminately, but you can't speak indiscriminately.

The current Second Grand Secretary is him, Wang Wang Chonggu!

Zhang Zhang Juzheng read the memorial again, looked at the arguing, shook his head and said: "Stop for a moment, argue later. Second Grand Secretary Wang, in my opinion, it is feasible."

Ask for monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!!!!!!!! It's the end of the month, hand over all your monthly tickets!!!!!! Aowu!!!!!!

(End of chapter)